Blood Stains and Daisy Chains
by flames4thought
Summary: AU. DE-Centric. Bellatrix Lestrange. Dark!Luna. It was as they side-along apparated her to… somewhere… that the premonition hit her from nowhere. Just a sudden certainty that there would be no light at the end of the tunnel. From the ruins and lingering corruption, a new power must emerge. Warnings inside. Co-authored by 394SalazarSlytherin and flames4thought.


**Disclaimer:** **We do not, have never, (and probably won't ever) own Harry Potter. The characters within are the brainchildren of J.K. Rowling, while the plot is ours adapted from hers.**

 **Rating:** **M**

 **Trigger Warnings:** **We** _ **will not**_ **be posting warnings for individual chapters as we feel it takes away from the spontaneity of the story so consider this a blanket warning for the entire fic. This fic will be** _ **dark.**_ **Expect: major character death, possible dub-con and non-con, torture, violence, profanity, self-harm, and essentially many dark and disturbing things. These triggers** _ **will**_ **start in this chapter so if you are not comfortable reading about any of the above-mentioned topics, I suggest you stop reading now and go find something else to read instead.**

 **Full Summary:** **AU. DE-Centric. Bellatrix Lestrange. Dark!Luna. It was as they side-along apparated her to… somewhere… that the premonition hit her from nowhere. Just a sudden certainty that there would be no light at the end of the tunnel. No end to the misery spread by the Dark Lord and his followers. "Oh Harry," she whispered into the vacuum surrounding her, "I'm so sorry." The Dark Lord fell and the Saviour with him. From the ruins and lingering corruption, a new power must emerge. Canon to mid-DH and diverges from there. Co-authored with 394SalazarSlytherin.**

 **Pairings:** **Luna Lovegood x Bellatrix Lestrange, possibly others. We haven't decided yet, but definitely Luna/Bella, so if fem slash is not your thing I advise you again to go read something else.**

 **Flames' A/N:** **PLEASE READ and bear with us through this extended author's note (It will be the longest one you have to endure, I promise). We just need to get some housekeeping out of the way, as we want to make sure we cover everything now before we start the story.**

 **First: I (flames4thought) and 394SalzarSlytherin are co-authoring this. This means that we have both contributed to the writing of each chapter in some way. Salazar is not beta-ing for me and I am not beta-ing for her. This is as much her baby as it is mine. Some sections might read slightly differently simply because our writing styles are different. We will do our best to make sure our writing transitions effortlessly between us but please bear with us if we don't succeed in some places.**

 **Second, I'm sure you're all wondering about our update schedule. We are writing this on the go so updates are going to be slow. Like, probably about ONCE A MONTH because we're both very busy with Real Life. We have a pretty good idea where we're going with this though so updates might be quicker than that.**

 **Third. We recognize that this story is not for everyone. In fact, that is why we are writing this ridiculously long intro before we jump into the first chapter. So, if you DON'T like DARK, or F/F pairings, please don't read further and if you do please don't review simply to tell us how much you hated it. We are doing this for** _ **fun**_ **and rude reviews make it less fun and more of a chore to write, which means we won't write as much, thus ruining the story for those that are enjoying reading it. This does not mean we don't encourage** _ **constructive**_ **reviews as long as they are respectful. We are aware that this is a weird pairing, and that it might not be what you're expecting. Additionally, we are not trying to romanticize any of the trigger warnings listed above. Both of us are aware of the severity of many of these issues, have dealt with a couple of them personally, or watched friends and family deal with them, and we will deal with them as seriously and accurately as possible. We have given you ample warning…**

 **And if we haven't managed to scare you off yet… Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 1: The Premonition**

 _As the door clanged shut behind her to reveal the stick-thin, bent form of a renowned wand-maker, she knew it was up to her because, when it came right down to it, she was the only one who knew what was coming. And so, she planned._

 _When the train stopped and she was dragged off it roughly by smirking men, sucked through a tube, and dragged down, down, down into darkness, she knew. She knew with the certainty that she knew Nargles and Crumple-horned Snorkacks existed that the light would fail, and the darkness would fall, and Wizarding Britain would churn into chaos and confusion. And she knew the second line would falter and the third line would rally but ultimately fail. And there was no fourth. Not anymore. Everyone was too scared. Too scared of the darkness, too scared to leave their homes, too scared to trust strangers._

LL

Neville nudged her as the loudspeakers, installed to direct the students from their classes and instruct them when and where they were supposed to be, announced that it was time to depart for Hogsmeade and their families. An escape to the hellhole their school had become.

"You still going?" he asked quietly. They were hiding behind a tapestry as the Carrows prowled around the Entrance Hall, searching for dissenters. Searching for Neville and any of the members of the rebellion he'd managed to rouse to try slinking past their guarded perimeter and escape to greener pastures outside of Hogwarts.

She nodded. "Daddy needs me," she replied flippantly, "He says the crop of Gulping Plimpies is excellent this year and he needs help harvesting them."

"Luna," Nevilled started to sigh, but stopped at the hard look that crept onto her usually serene face. "You're worried about him," he stated, understanding dawning over his rugged features. He wrapped an arm around her small frame as she inclined her head slightly.

"The Wrackspurt infestation has gotten worse," she whispered. She couldn't say that she thought it would be the last time she would see her father alive, that she needed to make sure he got away and into hiding even if it meant stopping his crusade to remind everyone that Harry was still out there fighting for them. She didn't think she could survive losing him too. She couldn't say she had to go because she could feel the darkness closing in on all of them and she was afraid everything they did would all be for naught. "I need to go home and make sure he has it under control."

Neville's jaw tightened but he nodded. In the four months since school had started again, they'd resurrected Dumbledore's Army, and begun to wreck havoc through the school by rebelling against the ridiculously oppressive new rules that had turned what had been a home away from home into a prison. They'd gotten used to living dangerously, secretly rebelling while pretending to follow the new regime, and more openly rebelling to protect those students unable to defend themselves. They'd also gotten used to her strangely intuitive turns of phrase and learned to heed them without question.

"Ok," he said, "Ok. Just… be careful."

LL

Slipping onto the train unseen was simple really. A matter of releasing a couple of Wrackspurts at the right moment to distract Filch who was guarding the front entrance and checking students off his list as they went, and then dodging the Death Eaters (oh, excuse me, _Aurors_ ) lingering at the station in Hogsmeade.

Warding a compartment with Notice-Me-Nots and Muffliato's was an easy affair too and she thought she'd made it. Thought that she'd managed to evade all of the spies and moles and sympathizers until the train crawled to a halt in the middle of nowhere and the Dementors swarmed the compartments like wasps.

LL

Later she'd defend her actions to herself. She _could_ have huddled in the compartment unnoticed, the happiness slowly draining from her soul as the Dementors sucked her dry, enduring the sobs of fear and pain as the entire train full of school children was subjugated to creatures whose very existence was misery. But she wasn't the sort of person to watch as another was bullied, and she'd sworn to defend the students of her school from the Carrows and _his_ cohorts and whatever other evil _he_ sent after them. And so, she'd cast her patronus, smiled sadly at the hare as it bounded from the tip of her wand, and banished the ill-tempered fey from the train.

They'd found her, of course, after that. Her hare led them right to her and she'd simply smiled at the crooked-toothed Snatcher with the scraggly dark hair and beard who'd loomed out of the darkness to capture her.

"Is it time to go?" she asked, holding her wand out to him as he blinked in surprise at her. He'd expected more fight, she thought as his fumbling fingers snatched her wand away. Surely, he didn't think she was an idiot. She knew there was an army of others with him searching for others like her on the train, whose parents had been too open in their disapproval of their new _Lord_. She knew she would only succeed in getting herself or other innocent students hurt if she tried to fight. So, she surrendered. Gracefully, serenely, calmly.

They dragged her and four others off the train before they sent it on its way, back to London and civilisation. She knew two of the shivering and crying students that huddled in the dark waiting to be transferred somewhere more secure where they would wait for their parents to be informed of their detainment. She was the eldest by two years, and the youngest she remembered being sorted that September.

The two she knew were Ravenclaws, siblings, and both a couple years below her. Their father was a businessman with his own company that imported and exported goods throughout Europe. He'd apparently started smuggling Muggleborns out of the country before they could be prosecuted. She didn't know why the others had been taken but she suspected it was a similar story. The Ministry was squashing dissenters left and right, and if it took holding their children captive to do it, well the ethics of such actions were of no concern anymore. They had a new leader in Wizarding England, and his word was law.

LL

It was as they side-along apparated her to… somewhere… that the premonition hit her from nowhere. Just a sudden certainty that there would be no light at the end of the tunnel. No end to the misery spread by the Dark Lord and his followers. "Oh Harry," she whispered into the vacuum surrounding her, "I'm so sorry."

LL

She crumbled as the vacuum receded, tears spilling down her face at the thought all her friend's misery would be for naught. She was numb to the fear she should have been feeling in her predicament. Harry's fate seemed to loom over her head like the eye of a hurricane and she was lost in the calm at the centre of the storm.

She looked around her new surroundings disinterestedly. It was too dark to discern any details in the dim evening light but they appeared to have apparated outside a large black wrought-iron gate that led to a manor of some sort. They were alone – apparently the other three snatched from the train were being taken elsewhere. Fear twisted in her gut as she worried what would become of them where she couldn't protect them.

The Snatcher's laughed at her tears and the one who'd captured her twisted her face painfully toward him. Her eyes flashed with the briefest hint of anger before they went blank again, her serene expression smoothing her features to a blank slate. Except for the tears.

"Aw, Steve," he chuckled, "She's cryin' already an' we haven't started on the fun stuff yet."

The other Snatcher – Steve – leaned forward in the gloom to leer into her face. His breath stank of stale whiskey and cigar smoke and she coughed as he breathed out onto her face. Dirt smeared across his chin and Luna found herself staring at it as though entranced as he leaned even closer and stuck his tongue between his lips to lick a stray tear as it slipped down her cheek. She cringed away at the feel of the wet trail his tongue left on her cheek as the pair laughed raucously.

"Now, don't be like that, Sweetheart" the second Snatcher murmured in her ear, "With any luck, we'll be good friends before long." As though to make sure there was no ambiguity what he meant by _friends_ his hand slid up the back of her thigh to pinch her arse and then roughly drew it across the fabric of her shirt to rest on her right breast.

"Don't," she said softly, as though telling a friend about her day. Her eyes snapped up to meet Steve's darkened brown eyes. Her breath hissed angrily out as he squeezed hard, and hot fury flashed through her eyes again at his presumption. The emotion felt alien to her especially in her numb state. Please, she thought as her eyes slid closed, No.

The other Snatcher's eyes darkened with desire as his sharp eyes perceived the fire that flitted through hers. "Coo, Steve," he laughed gleefully, "She's a bit o' a firecracker. Bet she'd be wild if she were riled."

Steve's eyes glinted with amusement and his hand hovered as he pondered what he could get away with before she was required before the Dark Lord. Just as he seemed to come to a decision, a familiar silky-smooth voice cut through the darkness and Luna sagged with relief. "Much as I'd hate to interrupt," it said, "I'd hate to keep the Dark Lord waiting any longer than necessary and the two of you have been out here admiring your catch for ten minutes already."

The two Snatchers grumbled but shoved her forward roughly, causing her to stumble. Long fingers caught her arm before she could fall and she looked up through the murky lighting to see Professor Snape's pale, gaunt face. As she always did when she saw him, she thought of threstrals and misunderstandings. Another mocking twist of fate, she thought. One she thought she could straighten though, given half a chance. He sneered down at her as he let regain her footing and then dismissed the Snatchers. "I believe you'll find the Dark Lord has no further services he requires of you tonight," he jeered.

"What if you need help subduin' 'er" the first Snatcher asked.

"This slip of a girl?" Snape scoffed, "I think I can manage." He tossed a small bag of coins at the Snatchers and dragged Luna through the gate, gripping her upper arm hard enough she thought it would bruise.

"Professor Snape," she gasped as he prodded her up the long drive. Dimly, she was aware she was trembling now, whether from fear or anger she didn't know. She was so numb.

Snape faltered and turned swiftly to face her, his face severe. "Miss Lovegood," he sneered. He examined her face for a moment and then his face softened slightly and he began to curse under his breath quietly. "I'm sorry," he murmured, and she just blinked at him. She'd known the softness was there under the hard crust that had formed over the molten surface, but she'd never seen it. "If you, Weasley, and Longbottom had been able to keep your heads down…"

He shook his head. "Too much to ask from the blundering idiots in Gryffindor. I'd hoped you…" He trailed off and cleared his throat, the scornful acid back in his voice. "If you'd had the sense to at least pretend to comply, I'd have been able to keep you at Hogwarts," he said, "Instead, you and that pack of buffoons had to start up a rebellion in my school. Do you realize, Miss Lovegood, just how badly you've damaged my efforts to keep the other students safe with your reckless disregard for the new regime?"

She swallowed hard at the condemnation in his tone and shook her head, even as she realized how their crusade must have destabilized the appearance of control he need to maintain leadership of the school. There were worse people for the job and _he_ could have assigned it to anyone. But _he'd_ chosen Snape and so it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. Not by half. "And I thought Ravenclaws were the clever ones," he muttered sourly, "No matter. This is how it is."

"You've always reminded me of a milk snake, Professor," she murmured, her thoughts turning again to the poisonous personality he draped over himself like a shield over the vulnerable core. She felt him stiffen as he gripped her arm again and began to push her farther up the drive.

"Yes," he muttered, "To you, I suppose I would."

She shuffled along beside him in silence until the grand mansion they approached loomed out of the shadows as though it was reaching out to engulf them. She shivered slightly because it seemed to ooze darkness and she hadn't even stepped foot inside yet but it felt like tendrils of it had already begun to poke and prod their way into hollow spaces inside her. As the surrounding features seemed to resolve themselves around the pair she stalled and reached over to touch her Professor's arm. "Harry," she whispered.

Snape's face closed off but she could see the war going on behind his eyes as he shuttered them from everything. "What do I care for Potter?" he hissed, but she could hear the lack of conviction in the silence between his words. Cracks in the crust, molten rock seeping through to illuminate them. She could hear the anguish of a broken heart like a silent plea and she shrugged.

"I don't know," she said, "You were never especially close." She didn't know whether they were talking about the son or the father. She wasn't sure if it mattered. With that, the last bit of personality Snape had worn vanished and his face smoothed out into a silent mask she couldn't read anymore.

"Come," he sneered, the caustic bravado he wore like his cape back in full force, "There is someone anxious to meet you."

LL

Luna drifted slowly behind Snape, their footsteps echoing softly on the richly carpeted floor of the Library, or at least what she assumed had once been a library. The room was only just barely illuminated by the light of the fireplace, two chairs and a love seat positioned haphazardly around it. It was obvious that the Dark Lord's minions had not been kind to room. Narcissa's precious books were piled precariously in the corner, some only slightly torn while others in total disrepair so that not even a _reparo_ could save them. A faint humming could be heard from the chair closest to the fireplace, as two feet hung over the arm rest, moving without rhythm to a song with no tune. Luna paused listening to the mystery women's song the notes ringing through her mind in blues, reds, greens, yellows.

"I see you've brought me my toy, Severus," an almost cackle erupted from the arm chair. "Well, let me see her."

"Bellatrix, if you would just let me bring her to the dungeon as the Dark Lord…"

"NO!" The Dark Lord gave her to me!" Bellatrix replied darkly, rising from her air chair to face him, "You may leave now Severus." Her body sparked with conviction, dark tendrils of energy exploding out, threatening.

"Very well." Severus sneered, his face concrete, masking the fear Luna could feel emanating from him as he turned to leave the room, his footsteps fading away until the light within his aura had dissipated and only darkness remained. At least he had tried.

"You're all alone now, my dear" Bellatrix murmured leaning towards Luna her fingers tracing along Luna's collarbone. "and we're going to have so—much—fun."

LL

Bella grinned as she heard the soft footsteps entering the library. Her toy had arrived as the Dark Lord had promised. She recognized Severus' almost silent footsteps easily and grinned wider at the sound of the echoing footsteps faltering behind him. The grin pulled at the flesh of her cheeks, drawing them back into a grotesque expression of delight and madness.

When she'd dismissed the stuffy Potions Master and Headmaster to Hogwarts, cutting through whatever protests he could dredge up she leaned closer to her new toy and breathed in her scent of sunflowers and sunlight deeply. The girl _had_ been promised after all. She pouted when her first comment to initiate the game of cat and mouse she intended to play with her new toy failed to elicit any significant response from the girl.

She shrugged after a moment and stepped back to admire the girl. Long platinum blonde curls hung in disarray down her back, almost to her waist. Silver-y grey eyes reminiscent of the Black's stared back at her. Bella stumbled back a step when she realized they held almost no fear. "Do you not realize who I am?" she purred as she forced herself to approach the girl again and played with a lock of her fine gold hair, "That I am to be _feared_?"

The girl shrugged. "Do you know who I am?" she rebutted calmly, "And are you feared, Bellatrix Lestrange? "

Bella shivered involuntarily at the sound of her name leaving those pale pink lips. It was like the soft tinkling of windchimes, each syllable said with a curious inflection. Her heart stuttered at the serenity held in the girl's features and her voice. And there was _no fear_. Deja vu flooded over her, and she took a deep breath to repress memories best left forgotten.

She forced herself to refocus on the task at hand and sneered, "Yes."

"Being feared must make for a lonely existence," the girl murmured, stilling staring at Bella with those too-calm eyes.

Bella felt her face twist cruelly at the girl's observation, the first tendril of fear stealing over her, and began to wonder if this had, perhaps, been unwise. "Whatever makes you say that?" she asked sweetly, cocking her head to the side curiously, "I have you."

At that, the girl's face showed the first flicker of fear since Severus had left and Bellatrix smiled cruelly. So, she wasn't immune. Good, she could learn the appropriate respect and fear then. When the girl deigned not to respond, Bella's smile grew wider. "Good," she breathed, "Now, let's start with something simple..."

She stepped away from the girl and smirked at the slightly cowed look on her face. " _Crucio_ ," she giggled.

LL

Indescribable pain. That was what Bellatrix's Cruciatus Curse felt like. It was nothing like the half-hearted curses the upper years were forced to use on the younger students as punishment. Not even the Carrow's attempt at the curse felt like this. Luna could tell the witch casting the spell on her had had years of experience. That she revelled in the pain she caused her victims. That she gloried in breaking them apart until only fragments remained.

This was the witch that had tortured Neville's parents into insanity. The witch who was the most devote follower of the insane megalomaniac who nearly controlled all of Wizarding Britain. The witch that had claimed Luna as a toy so that she could break and mold her into something beyond what she was.

But Luna saw beyond the armour Bellatrix wore like a shield. Past it, and into her core, where something so bright shone that Luna was almost blinded by it. Luna saw it, recognized it for what it was, and laughed at the folly of the Dark Lord who had tried to bind this witch's power to him when it couldn't be contained or bound by anyone or anything. Because what she saw at the centre of Bellatrix's aura was herself, and now she knew she had a fighting chance of making sure there was light at the end of the tunnel.

Ecstasy laced the pain with this realization, and so, instead of giving into the pain, Luna released herself to the euphoria and her laughter rang out into the dark and empty room.

LL

" _Crucio_." Luna's laughter filled the air as Ballatrix fired spell after spell. Her body writhing on the ground. The power within Bellatrix's curse washing over her, the pain reviving her, clearing her mind of insignificance. This woman was powerful and insane, but wasn't insanity the window into wisdom?

" _Crucio! Crucio! Crucio!_ " Bellatrix cried, her terror becoming obvious as Luna continued to laugh. She could feel the anguish pouring out of Bellatrix with every curse she spoke until… silence.

Luna moved slowly to sit up from her position on the carpet, her bones creaking from the remnants of her "torture," if you could call it that, after all the unforgivable requires the caster to want it, to mean it. Wide fearful eyes meet Luna's, "You're like me?"

A question, or a statement? Luna couldn't quite tell which it was, but she answered anyhow, "Yes."

"Draco!" Bellatrix cried, backing away slowly, shock and fear etched across her face. "Take her to the dungeons. She should be quite comfortable there."

LL

Luna's body racked with and aftershock of spasms as Draco appeared, seemingly from nowhere. His face was white and drawn, what little colour it had possessed had long since been drained from his visage. Luna remembered how unhealthy he'd looked the year before. The dark circles etched under his eyes had deepened and he looked more haunted than ever. His hands fluttered uncertainly as he approached his aunt nervously.

"Yes Aunt Bella," he murmured, "Of course. Shall I put her with the wandmaker?"

"Yes, yes," the flustered witch gasped, still staring at Luna with horror, "That will be fine. Then send down their dinner."

He nodded impassively and bent to grip Luna's arm tightly. She cried out as the pain seemed to hit her all at once and he sneered at her. "Up, filth," he snarled, dragging her to her feet and shoving her violently from the library.

Once out of eyesight of his aunt he allowed her to regain her footing, watching her test shaky limbs with guarded eyes, before he led her down a flight of plain concrete stairs. The air grew heavy and moist as they descended, and once they'd passed detection of the other inhabitants Draco shoved her against the wall roughly. "Are you out of your mind?" he hissed, eyes searching her face desperately, "You don't laugh at Aunt Bella. Not unless you want to die."

Luna looked up into his eyes, seeing past his anger to the terrified child inside. "I didn't laugh at her," she replied.

"Like hell you did," Draco snarled, "I could here you all the way from the entrance hall. Honestly Lovegood, I knew you were barmy but I didn't realize you rivalled my own aunt in that department."

Luna's eyes slid shut to block out the cacophony of taunts and jeers that welled up from the box she'd locked them in. "I'm not crazy," she protested, "People only say that because they can't see what's in front of your eyes."

"Whatever," Draco muttered, releasing her and shoving her further down the stairs. When they reached the bottom, he pulled a ring of keys from his pocket to unlock the wrought iron gate that served as a dungeon. "Olivander," he snapped, "Come where I can see you!"

There was the sound of footsteps coming closer in the gloom and Luna strained to see the hunched outline of someone standing about two meters from the door. "I brought you some company," Draco sneered as he shoved Luna through the door and locked it behind her. Luna gasped as the force of his shove sent her sprawling onto the stone floor, jarring tender muscles.

She heard Draco's footsteps begin to retreat as she hauled herself to her knees and called after him. "It's ok to be scared," she said, "I would be too, if I were you. You do what you need to survive. Nothing more. And that's forgivable."

The footsteps faltered as Draco paused in his retreat to look back at her, his pale features shining in the gloom. "You have no idea," he whispered, anguish seeping into his voice, harsh and acerbic against the self-loathing and anger. With that he disappeared up the stairs and Luna turned back to the cell she'd been dumped into. The silhouette standing there shuffled forward and Luna started to cringe before it resolved itself into the form of Mr. Ollivander.

"Miss Lovegood," he said, "Ebony, phoenix feather, 13 ¾ inches, and fairly unbending, if I recall correctly?"

She stared at him for a moment stunned, before she nodded shakily. "Y-yes," she said.

"Oh my dear," he said, "I am so sorry you find yourself here."

"Me too," she whispered as she turned her head to stare back up the stairwell as though she could still see the library she'd just come from.

 **A/N: See you all sometime in February hopefully. For those of you also reading The Morrigan's Curse (flames4thought's Tomione WIP), I apologize for the lack of an update this week. Real Life snuck up on me unexpectedly and I lost the drive to write after a couple of rude/disheartening anonymous reviews. This week is also looking a bit crazy at the moment but I'm hoping to have a chapter up sometime this week.**

 **Love,**

 **flames4thought & 394SalazarSlytherin**


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